Fallout: a tale of 7 lives
by S1llyAng3l
Summary: So out of the boredom of my life, I had decided to write 48 pages worth of a fallout story that I still haven't gotten around to finishing .', it revolves around small stories of 7 different girls in the wasteland, how they find love, and help each other cope with different situations. Enjoy. Lone Wandererx Butch DeLoria(later), ocxcharon, ocxharkness, ocxoc
1. Chapter 1

This is the tale of 7 girls who lived completely different lives. Of each comes a story of different natures that will shape the ways of the Capital Wasteland. All heroes in their own light. Their destinies will intertwine and they will soon find themselves to be each others sole company.

The Vault Dweller

How was I to know that any of this was going to happen? I'm only 19, and I'm just the vaults chef. But the reality was too clear.

"Look you need to get out of here! Your father's gone, Ace, gone!" I looked Amata over and squinted, maybe she's been experimenting with Jet? No Amata wasn't one to kid around.

"How could my father have left? The vaults sealed shut," I tried to reason with her, but she shook her head.

"I don't know okay, but you need to get out of here! Ace they killed Jonas! They thought he was working with your dad and now my fathers men are after you!" She frantically shook my shoulders and stared me right in the eye.

"You're really serious aren't you?" The look she was giving me was that of fright, she wasn't lying.

"Well how do you suppose I go about this?" She pulled out a 10mm from her back and handed it to me. "Amata..."  
"Only use it as a last resort okay? Try and get to my fathers office, I usually use these to get it," She hands me a few bobby pins and closes my hand around them. "I'll try to meet you there okay, good luck," And with that she was gone leaving me in my room to gather my thoughts and my things.

'Alright, I can do this. I can escape the vault no problem,' I grabbed my be-be gun and baseball bat and headed through my fathers office and out to the main corridor where officer Kendell was down the hall.

"Hey you! Get over here!" I took off through the bathrooms only to bump into a pain in the ass.

"Candy! You gotta help me!" Rolling my eyes, I leaned on my left leg.

"What is it Butch? I don't have time for your little games," His face held panic.

"No it's my Ma, she's surrounded by radroaches you gotta save her!" I snorted a laugh and threw him my baseball bat.

"You're a big boy Butch, how about you go in there and be a hero. Or are you too scared of a little radroach to save your mom?" His face became angered and he ran off into the room and he began attacking the roaches, killing them all. He came running back out with a smile.

"Yahoo I did it, thanks Candy you're a true friend. Here as a thank you I want you to take my Tunnel Snakes Jacket," He took off his jacket and handed it to me then made his way back to his mother. I tied it around my waist and ran off towards the stairs.

"Hey stop, I just want to talk!" Stopping, I turned to my left seeing Officer Gomez approaching me quickly. "You should be lucky that I got here before anyone else,"

"Why because the rest of your friends are being controlled by a deranged lunatic?" "I'm not even going to argue with you about that, I'm just going to pretend that I didn't even see you, just get out of here now," I smiled lightly and touched his shoulder.

* * *

"Thanks Officer Gomez, you've always been a great friend," With that I took off towards to Atrium with hope of not running into too many more officers.

After taking out a few more officers I found myself near Amata's corridor.

"Look I don't know anything!" Amata's voice rang from the Overseers office. I ran towards the door and opened it getting the attention off of her and onto me. She quickly ran past me and towards her room leaving me with her father and a guard who attacked me. I took him out and glared at the Overseer.

"Look kid why don't you just hand yourself over? You're only making yourself look worse just like your father," I grip tightened on the pistol and I glared at the aged man.

"Don't speak ill on my father, he had his reasons. You killed Jonas, he didn't do anything wrong! You're just a murderer!" He crossed his arms and gave a smug look.

* * *

"Please don't make me laugh, guards! Guards!" I held up my pistol and shot him in the head making his body slump over. My stomach tightened and I took his keys off of his waist and ran towards his office, not even stopping to see if Amata was okay. I went into his office and entered the password 'Amata' and opened the secret door under the desk and made my way down and towards the exit that my Pipboy was transmitting.

I entered the enclosed room and stared at the big brass door that said 101 on it. I pulled the lever on the rusted panel setting the alert alarm off.

"I can't believe you actually did it!" I turned around and looked at Amata whose face was covered in tears and shock.

"When I want something done, I'll get it done," I replied haste fully, regret starting to sit in from what had just happened. She frowned and listened to the guards that were approaching from behind us.

"You better go, if anyone can make it out there it's you. I'll try to get order back around here," I hugged her and allowed the tears to fall from my eyes.

"I'll miss you Amata, and I'm sorry," I ran off towards the now opened door and made it to the dirt. The door began to close behind me as the wooden door separating me from what ever is out there came into view.

'If dad is still alive, he's obviously not going to let this stop him and I wont either,' I opened the door and walked out to what would change my life forever.

Scientist

My research had become noticed at my younger years. I was born in the Citadel to Kimura, Noburou and Kimura, Sasami. I also have a twin brother Maasaki who unlike me decided to stay there and become a Knight. I discovered the use of synthetic blood around a few years ago and made a project of my own. Project M5-9. The stability of a humans emotions and appearance along with the power and mechanics of a robot sent me to thrive to create something new, or actually someone.

"How does that feel Muka? Any difference from the last test?" I stood in my Megaton home and adjusted the power given to her. Muka's face was covered by a blue mask that glowed. She layed still in her chamber flexing her fingers.

"My internal circuits have risen to 95% Natsumi-sama," I grinned happily and turned off the machine, and stepped forward to remove the wires and face mask. My bright cerulean eyes came in contact with her shiny red eyes.

"I think I'm finally done with your tests Muka! Everything has turned out to be perfect and you're probably the closest thing to human now. I want you to sleep for the rest of the night okay? Wadsworth, can you retrieve some water from the sink please?" "Certainly madame,"

"You've discovered a way to bring clean water through the filters. Where did you learn that, Natsumi-sama?" I turned off my computer and gazed at the android. Her hair resembled my color, but only a few tones darker. My light turquoise hair was messy and just below my ears unlike hers which layed gracefully on her pale white shoulders.

"I remember reading up on a few files about a project purity in the Citadel a few years back. It was hella hard to configure, but I managed to figure out a conversion of dirty water to purified water through a filter. So technically I haven't found the cure for radiated water just a filtration system," I took the water from Wadsworth, saying a light thank you to the robot butler.

"Isn't that the same thing? I understand that with a filtration device you could save all of the wasteland," I took a sip from my water and shook my head and handed her my clipboard.

"That's where you're wrong Muka. In order to restore the Wastelands water I'd have to find a G.E.C.K. Without that there's no way to make a filtration big enough for so many square miles. Plus the old Jefferson Memorial by Rivet City is inhabited my super mutants. I don't feel like scuffling with those brutes," I explained and took the clipboard back and placed on her heart monitors.

"I'll see you tomorrow okay? Sleep well Muka,"

"Thank you Natsumi-sama, you too" I closed the doors of her pod allowing my friend to finally get some rest.

"Might I suggest you get some rest too Madame? You've been up testing M5-9 for the last few days and it would only be fair for you to get some rest as well," I smiled at the worried robot and shook my head.

* * *

"I thought I'd go to Moriarty's and get a drink. I've got too much on my mind to rest right now," He made a noise and took my glass to the small kitchen in the back of the house. Some whiskey could help sooth the tension in my muscles.

"Hey Sumi, whatcha got cooking now?" The moment I entered the saloon, I was greeted nicely by one of the help Gob, who was such a sweetheart. The ghoul was pretty good looking in my eyes, a characteristic that was frowned upon by most humans.

"Nothing really, I've been busy with Muka's testing and some man had come and visited me yesterday so I haven't gotten much sleep. Can I have the usual?" "Sure thing Sumi. Was this guy bothering you? Do I need to rough anyone up?" I chuckled lightly and shook my head, Gob was one protective Ghoul.

"Just more science talk really. Ah thank you. So who's the shady character in the corner? Did he just get here?" Gob side glanced at the well dressed man sitting in the corner of the room.

"Well no, he's been here a while. Usually stays at home or sits right there. But there's something about him that just doesn't feel right. He's so unsettling," I shrugged and quickly downed the strong alcohol, then another, and another. Soon enough I could barely see straight.

"Gob ya know you are just so fine! Hic, I don't care what anyone says about you, I could just, hic, hit that all night, hic," I slurred out running my hand over the raw fleshy skin of the kind ghoul. He chuckled and pulled his hand away.

"You should go home now Natsumi. I'll put this on your tab, just get some sleep," I blew a raspberry and pulled myself off the stool and leaned on the counter for support. My antics to hit on him again foiled.

"No, no. If I did that, Moriarty would be a huge jackass and hit you for that. Here, hic, I've got the caps already," I drew a bunch of caps out and dropped them on the counter and swayed my way to the door. "Can't flirt with, hic, anyone without being, hic, turned down,"

'I feel like dancing,' I thought with a giggle and starting out the door. Once I was out I started dancing around the steel walk ways, almost falling over the railing a few times.

"Woah there Natsumi, it isn't safe for you to be this drunk out here at night. Let me walk you home," The chief stated getting a hold of my shoulders.

"Aw you're such a nice man, Lucas. Maybe you can meet a pweety girl and have lots of children," I stuttered out and laughed. He sighed and brought me to my door. "Oh look my house... Thank you Simms, you're too kind," I nodded my head and unlocked my door waltzing into my well sized home.

"Madame I do believe you're drunk, would you like some Med-X for later when you wake up?" I shook my head and made my way up my stairs hoping I could make it to my bed.

* * *

"Wadsworth, I'm sleeping in tomorrow, please activate Muka if anyone needs me," "Very well Madame, sleep tight," I kicked off my shoes and threw my lab coat onto my coat hanger. I pulled out my nightgown from the large closet and pulled it on. I crawled under my blankets and snuggled up to my pillows, quickly passing out from exhaustion.

Android

I could remember the days of my programming. The sweat running down Natsumi-sama's face as she bolted parts and created my body. 4 years ago was when I was just a simple android, void of most human emotion. I wasn't synthetic yet, just a mere robot with human like features. M5-9 was the name given to me by the software, but Natsumi-sama didn't like it, she said that she wanted me to be human, a friend that she could always have while she was alone in the Citadel. Muka; that's what she decided to call me. Time flew by while in the Citadel. Natsumi-sama had me train with her brother Maasaki-sama and day by day I became more human like. The skin, blood, organs, genitalia; all made by Natsumi-sama so that I could feel more normal.

"Hey Muka, would you like to see the Wasteland?" Her sudden question had confused me, see the wasteland? I had it all on my Pipboy.

"Natsumi-sama, I have already recorded all of the locations from the computers in the Lab, what else is there to show me?" She had simply laughed, taking a hold of my hands and pulling me up from my seat.

"No silly! I want you to see everything! Things that a little computer can't let you experience. There's a town called Megaton a couple of miles from here. In order to be human you need to see things that we see and feel it," Her words sounded strange to me. I knew how to fire a weapon, maneuver a melee weapon, and use my hardware to create abstract things. I'd thought that was all there was to being human. "I'm not going to take no for an answer. We will take your pod and anything else that is necessary and take them to our new home. You'll enjoy the experience, I promise!" I was baffled, what was she thinking. It wasn't until we left that I got the feel for the nature.

It came a few months later when my 3rd birthday had come that Natsumi-sama had installed emotions and my senses. The feeling of happiness and excitement had taken me over.

"How do you feel?" Those four words were usually what she said after finishing an experiment.

"I feel light, I'm happy I think," She smiled and clapped her hands. It always made me happy seeing Natsumi-sama excited, or proud.

* * *

"Yayy I can't wait to rub it in Moriarty's face when I tell him that you're not an emotionless person! C'mon lets go to the saloon, I could go for some scotch while I update Gob on the good news," That night was the first time that I had a taste of alcohol that Natsumi-sama was always bragging about. The taste was strong and left me feeling light headed after the first 2 shots. She had called it buzzed. That was also the time I met my first ghoul named Gob. Natsumi-sama was quite interested with him so I didn't have much of an issue, even thought he was missing a lot of skin. I was told to watch my tongue and to not be a bigot when it came to ghouls, they were all human too, even the ferals. They were actually more important to her than humans, she'd always say that humans were 'racist bigots who needed to take a lesson in appreciating the good things about people.'

"Natsumi-sama is there anyone else out there like me?" I had found curiosity to be one of my biggest emotions soon after Natsumi-sama brought home a kitten. The little black fur ball was ill and could barely open it's eyes. Natsumi-sama said there wasn't really any felines in the wasteland, mostly just dogs or wolves.

"I'm not exactly sure Muka. I created you after seeing Liberty Prime in the lab one day. I think there may be other androids too, so don't worry," I watched her nurse the little kitten with a bottle of brahmin milk and sighed.

"Do you think I would ever be able to conceive a child?" My question must of shocked her because she dropped the bottle right onto the floor.

"Muka what's making you think of all these questions? You have a uterus, but with out an egg and sperm for a baby to grow from, there isn't much of a possible way for you to have a baby. Besides, even though kids are a blessing they are extremely hard to have with all the radiation," I could only agree and continued to watch her actions. I wanted to learn about a lot of things. Maasaki-sama had mentioned things like sex, power, money, and love to me when I wanted to know about humans. Love really struck me because I knew that no matter how much Natsumi-sama wanted me to be human, I would never be able to love another human of the opposite sex. I knew I loved Natsumi-sama, but that type of love and affection wasn't the same as the type to love another being intimately.

"Muka can you hold Konta? I need to get something from my room," She had handed me the small kitten in a rush and ran up to her small bedroom. He looked so frail and weak being only 3 weeks old. With no mother to clean him and make him better. I felt myself be overcome with sadness as water came from my eyes.

"What's, what's going on with me?" I couldn't stop the wetness from coming from my tear ducks.

* * *

"Muka why are you crying?" That was the first time I had experienced tears, because I knew that I was truly alone in the end.

A few months rolled by and Natsumi-sama had turned 18. She was ecstatic to have gained another year in her life. That was also around the time she had gotten a request to go to a radiated area and get a hold of some important documents. As her self proclaimed bodyguard I went with her, to make sure that no dangers would come her way. But something happened that day that changed her life. Natsumi-sama had gotten deadly radiation poisoning and I had to rush her to the Citadel for treatment. She remained out of commission for several weeks until she finally came through. She wasn't too bad off now, only for a sudden change in her appearance. Her skin had become tighter more smooth and her body curved off more than it used too. Her hair was glossy and her ears became pointed. The radiation had taken a different effect on Natsumi-sama that not even she could explain. The term elven had escaped a scribes mouth as they took notes on her new look. She cried when we got home; for days.

* * *

"I'm so confused, what's wrong with me?" Whatever she was seeing hurt her making me feel upset from her demise. Natsumi-sama had gotten more beautiful and even for her small height; stronger. From then on, I had decided that I would put my life on the line to protect her. My creator and 'mother'.

"Muka there seems to be someone here for the madame. She requested that I wake you if there was a disturbance," Wadsworth had opened my pod around noon the next day. The new improvements Natsumi-sama had installed were finally booted and I couldn't have felt better.

"I will deal with them immediately, thank you Wadsworth," I walked over to the door and opened it coming face to face with the Sheriff Lucas Simms.

"Hello Lucas Simms how can I assist you?" He smiled lightly and tilted his hat.

"Can I talk to your Master please? This is a difficult matter," I shook my head.  
"I'm sorry, I was told that if any problems were to a cur that I was to tend to them. May I know the situation?" He nodded.

"We got ourselves another vault dweller, but she fainted on sight of seeing Moriarty's hired help. I needed Natsumi to come and talk some sense into her," My 'brain' ran over data of things Natsumi-sama told me to say to ghouls and how to treat them.

* * *

"I can take care of the problem for you Lucas Simms," He smiled gratefully and went on his way to his normal schedule of patrolling the town. I closed the door and made my way down the metal platforms and to the saloon where I had gone many times with Natsumi-sama only to have her hit on the kind hearted ghoul, Gob; much to Colin Moriartys disdain.

"Oh Muka, I didn't expect to see you come in, where's your Master Natsumi?" Moriarty asked standing behind the small counter. I scanned the room for any known problems and noticed the presence of another being upstairs in the rented room.

"Natsumi-sama is at home sleeping off the hangover she got from drinking last night and I was sent to assess the situation. May I go upstairs and check on the vault dweller?" He scowled and looked me over, like I was going to hurt someone.

"No I'd rather Natsumi come and take care of the little hot mess. I don't need another creature coming and ruining my business," My stomach clenched after his insult and I put my head down, letting my bangs over my eyes.

"I apologize Colin Moriarty, I will retrieve Natsumi-sama," With that I turned on my heel, and angrily slammed the door denting the handle. Natsumi-sama had made me just as much of a human as he was, why did he have to be so prejudice against different beings?

"Muka you're back so soon, have you finished up the task given to you?" Wadsworth asked gaining a vicious look from me.

"Natsumi-sama, you must wake up. Colin Moriarty needs you at his saloon," The smaller tealnette opened her eyes slowly and scowled.

"Why can't you take care of it? My head hurts," She rolled back over and put her head under her pillow. I frowned and sat at her desk.

"I have been ordered to get you to go instead because Colin Moriarty 'doesn't want another screw up creature in his vicinity'," Her head shot up from her pillow and she stared at me long and hard.

* * *

"Did he really say that? That conceited fat pig. Stay here and watch the house, I'll be right back," She grabbed some clothes from her dresser and changed into her lab coat and left the house with a fire in her step. The feeling coursing though me was painful and evil. I wanted to kill Moriarty, slice his throat open and let him lie on the floor gasping for air while I steadied my .44 at his head. This feeling of wanting to kill someone wasn't new, but it definitely scared me. I didn't want to give Natsumi-sama a bad name, and I didn't want her to be shunned because she created a bad seed. If only there was someone out there like me, maybe they would help me understand why I felt like this.

* * *

* * *

This was an older story that I had a lot done for so I'm just uploading what I have so it doesn't go to waste, enjoy! S1lly1nL0ve 


	2. Chapter 2

My Pipboy read 9 o'clock when I finally finished crying. The bright sun was beating down on my paled skin. The gigor counter didn't read any radiation in the air so I must be okay. I stood up and looked at the map that was picking up on nearby locations. I decided to head to the closest one, my eye catching onto high raised steel walls. I rushed towards it putting more power behind my legs. There was a robot outside, telling me that I had reached Megaton. The gates opened and I proceeded to the doors in front of me. I took a deep breathe and opened it seeing little houses and a long walk way.

"Well I'll be another new comer," I jumped and looked at the tall dark man in front of me. "Don't be alarmed. I'm Lucas Simms, Sheriff of Megaton, welcome," I looked up at him and nodded shyly.

"I"m Candace Waters, it's nice to meet you Sheriff Simms,"

"Friendly and well mannered, I see we'll get along just fine. Is there anything I can help you with?" I looked around and my eyes fell on the big atomic bomb sitting in the middle of town.

"You have a bomb in the middle of town! Isn't that dangerous?" He chuckled and crossed his arms.

"It's already been deactivated by one of the residents here. Natsumi usually likes to get her things done quickly," I frowned and glanced down at my pipboy again.

"Have you seen a middle aged man come through here?" "Well I actually have, but I don't have time to monitor every new face I see in here. Why don't you try asking Moriarty? He usually keeps tabs on every one who enters Megaton. His saloon in up in the south west part of town," I quickly thanked him and ran up the steel platform. I passed a general store and followed the signs up to a small saloon called Moriarty's.

'Alright, I'll just ask where my dad is and leave,' I opened the door and walked in taking in the small counter.

* * *

"Hey smoothskin, what will it be?" I looked up seeing a battered face, missing skin, beady eyes. Soon enough I felt myself fall backwards and lose consciousness. This was just too much for one day.

I soon awoke to the sounds of voices. I looked around the small room I was in, the covers falling to my waist.

"You have no right to call Gob or Muka a creature Moriarty! They are just as much as a human as you or I," The female voice yelled loudly at the owner of the saloon. I blinked and remembered seeing that zombie face.

"The ghoul made a customer faint! Why would I want to send your little android up there to see if the lad was okay?" An irish voice lashed back making me pull the blankets up more.

"I should put a fucking bullet through your skull Colin Moriarty. But for Gobs sake I don't want him to have to clean up your blood. Insult them again and I'll make sure they find your body in the Deathclaw sanctuary," she finished and footsteps rang up a flight up stairs and down the hallway to the room I was in. I backed up into the back board. Who ever was coming sounded mean and scary. The door opens and standing there is a woman no taller than 5'2" dressed in a lab coat and a dress.

"You must be the vault dweller. Gee this is just awesome, I get to meet 2 of you in one week! I must be really lucky," Her personality was nothing that I thought it would be. Her bright blue eyes scanned me over as she placed a hand over my pipboy. "Everything seems to be in working condition,"

"Um who are you?" She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear which was pointed and grinned.

"I'm Doctor Natsumi Kimura! I'm a scientist here in Megaton. And who might you be vault dweller?" I grimaced at her loud voice and shrunk back.

"I'm Candace Waters. Did you say that you met another vault dweller?! That must mean my dad came through here," She smiled lightly and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Right right, we'll discuss that once I get you home, for now I want you to go and apologize to poor Gobbie down there. I think you really hurt his feelings when you fainted after seeing him," The thought of seeing that zombie again made me shiver getting an evil look from the pretty tealnette. "Think very carefully before you say your next words. Ghouls are people too. I understand they may not look completely human but they feel the same emotions and such as we do," I looked her over seeing a thoughtful look on her face. Obviously she must really like ghouls.

"I'm guessing you really like ghouls?" She quickly turned to me, her eyes glowing with anticipation and eagerness.

"Like them? I love them! They are so intriguing, from their rough skin to the patches of hair; I love it all," She creeped me out slightly, but I understood to a point what she was talking about. "Sorry, I must sound weird, c'mon then lets start heading out," She yanked me out of bed with such force it sent me nearly flying to the floor. The strength of this small girl was incredible.

"Hey um how old are you?" She looked back at me and frowned.

"I'm 18, why?" I gawked and stopped in my tracks.

"You're younger than I am! But you're..." She held up her hand and gave me a venomous glare.

"Look if you're going to be around there's something you should know. Never comment on my height, my breasts, or my ears," I looked at her ears than her breasts and quickly nodded her head. The big breasted pointy eared short woman gave a bright smile and jumped down the stairs.

"She's alright Gob!" She bellowed and patted the ghoul on the shoulder. I looked down at my feet and looked at his patchy skin.  
"I'm sorry I fainted," He looked me over and smiled.

"It's alright smoothskin, you've never seen a ghoul before so I should have expected it. Sumi will you be coming in for drinks again tonight?" She shook her head and pointed to me.

* * *

"No sorry Gob, I need to welcome Ace over there into the family. I'll definitely come around tomorrow though," Ace; the nickname my father and Amata always used. Just the name it's self pulled at my heart strings. "Bye Gob, c'mon Ace, let's head home," Home, a place where I had been chased out of was being given to me again. By a woman who was younger than me and barely knew me. Maybe luck was going to pull through for me, maybe there was a small chance that I'd be able to make it out here in the Wasteland.

I had followed Natsumi into a small house that was covered in technology. In the far corner of the room stood a tall pod like thing. Computers, Holotapes, stinpaks scattered around with notes on all available tables.

"Sorry for the mess, it's been a pretty busy week. Wadsworth, I'd like you to meet Candace Waters, James' daughter,"

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Waters. I hope your stay is long," I glanced in between the two, a Mr. Handy bot? That's not too bad.

"Natsumi-sama you're back, you're blood pressure had risen quite significantly while you were gone, did something happen?" I watched as one of the most beautiful girls came down the stairs. She was about my height and and had the longest turquoise hair I'd ever seen. She actually looked a lot like Natsumi.

"Are you twins?" Natsumi giggled and shook her head.

"No no this is Muka, she's my best friend and well..." Muka stood next to the smaller girl and smiled.

"My name is M5-9, I am a model 4 android made my Natsumi-sama," My jaw slacked taking in the information. Android made by an 18 year old?

"But you're only 18 how could you make someone else?" She urged me to sit down.

* * *

"Look there's a lot for you to know, so why don't you relax? It's going to be a long day," All I could do is agree, someone like her deserves to be heard.

Natsumi had told me a lot, from her days in the Citadel, to the love of studying ghouls and finally my father. She said that coming to her was better than going to that fat pig Moriarty because she shared like goals with her father. Project Purity she had called it, saying that it was daddy's biggest goal and the reason he left the vault. But alas she didn't know of his location.

"Look I know you're new around here so I want to help as much as I can. If you can get to Moriarty's terminal you can find out where your dad is. Here's the password just make it quick," She slipped me a piece of paper that read 'lotsofmoney'.

"Where did you get this?" "Oh I got it from Gob, he said he hated that rat bastard and couldn't think of a better way to fuck him over," I nodded and headed towards the door.

"No, you can't go now! Wait til the morning, Moriarty spends all of his time back there at night. How about you pay a quick visit to Moira at the general store and see if she needs any help? I'll make dinner and you can tell me all about what it's like to live in a vault okay?" I sighed and tucked the small piece of paper into my sack.

* * *

"Alright thank you Natsumi, I really appreciate it," She smiled and shooed me off with her hand. So I took it as my time to leave and go see this Moira chick.

"Well I'll be, you're that vault person everyone's going on about! I'm Moira Brown, it's so nice to meet you!" She shook my hand with a wide grin. "Ohh this would be perfect for the book I'm working on, can you tell me what it was like living there?"

"Well I don't see why not. There's no food dispensers up here! I'm so hungry, and there's ghouls and apparently something called a super mutant! All we got were radroaches," She laughed and wrote everything down.

"Well I can't feed you, but I can definitely help you defend yourself, here have this vault suit that I reinforced with armor," She took a vault uniform off the wall and handed it to me. I didn't want to know why she had it so I took it without complaining. "Hey I know, why don't you help me with the rest of the book. It's going to be a survival guide about where to get food medicine and how to survive out in the wastes. I'll pay you for every section you complete!" The word pay came to mind and I raised my arm.  
"I'll do it what do you want done first?" "oh yay, okay the first chapter will be about basic survival, where to find food and medicine, how to disarm a mine, and how to handle high doses of radiation. So which one do you want to do first," I pondered the decision.

* * *

"Well I've always been interested in explosives so how about the mines?" "Oh good, you'll need to travel to Minefield and make it to the park and back. And if you can bring back a mine I can give you the schematics for something called a bottle cap mine," I nodded and uploaded the location on my Pipboy.  
"I'll leave first thing in the morning. Thank you Moira!" So I gathered the armored suit and left for Natsumi's house to give her the good news.

"So I'll be going to Minefield tomorrow to get a mine and bring it back for Moira," I sat at the small table that Natsumi had pulled out and munched on the Brahmin steak.

"Minefield? I heard there was a sniper up in the old building north of the town. Be careful when you're there, I don't need to implant new legs on you," She laughed lightly drinking a glass of water. I looked around her room taking in the decor. It was different than how I lived in the vault, but it felt like home. Natsumi even has a kitten named Konta, who she found near Andale. His black fur glistened when the light hit it and he had the bushiest tale I have ever seen.

"So is there anything I can help with around here?" Natsumi shook her head.

"No it's fine, I made a bed for you in the spare room, it's not much but I'm sure you'll manage. Oh and I left some leather armor I fixed up there too, I'm pretty sure you must be tired by now," I rubbed my eyes and looked at the time, 8:30pm. Dishes were being cleaned up by Wadsworth and Natsumi leaving me with Muka.

"Hello Waters, how are you enjoying your stay at Natsumi-sama's house? She really likes having you around," Muka sat across from me and smiled. It was wondrous thinking about how she was able to use human emotions and look just like one.

"She's more down to earth than she lets on. But at the same time she's assertive and not someone to mess with," "Natsumi-sama grew up alone, her brother barely was around due to her parents always spoiling him. They always wanted a son, so Natsumi created me to fill her empty heart. A child genius who had little time to grow up, it's sad really; I'm proud of her though," The fondness in her voice made me realize that even though I was without a house or my father, I wasn't the only one who was alone.

"I'm going to go to bed now, I'll see you both in the morning. Oh and Muka please call me Ace," "Ace? Alright, sleep well," Putting down the glass I made my way up the stairs to the makeshift bedroom. There laid a small mattress by the side wall with a few pillows and blankets and behind the door was a nightgown and a well repaired leather armor. I smiled and ran my fingers over the stitches and held on to the gown. Peeling off the hot and dirty vault uniform I pulled the nighty on. I wandered out of the room and to the bathroom down the hall to clean my face feeling the clean water run down my face with all the dirt and grim. My long brown hair fell from it's tie and layed on my pale shoulders. It was clean enough to a point, but I'd definitely need to shower soon.

* * *

'I'm sure Natsumi wouldn't mind me taking one in the morning,' I thought and made my way back to my room and adjusted myself into the firm bed. Placing my pipboy on the small end table beside me I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The morning started off with breakfast and rushing out to the saloon to check Moriarty's terminal. When I entered the small bar again I ran into a tall red head wearing a tight outfit.

"Oh this must be the fresh meat, you looking to buy shuga?" My eyes widened and I shook my head haste fully.

"No no, I'm not into that stuff," She shrugged and sat down on a stool. I glanced around seeing no sign of Moriarty and made my way to his back room not finding him back there. I entered the password quickly and downloaded all information from it and practically ran out of the room.

"Hey you, come over here," I quickly turned away from the door seeing a hatted man urging me over to where he was sitting. I walked over to him and caught his evil smile.

"My dear girl I don't believe we've met, I'm Mister Burke and it's your lucky day," I tilted my head and crossed my arms.

"I'm interested in what you have to say, please continue," His face lit up and he lean forward.  
"Good good I knew I picked the right person. You see I need someone to complete a little job for me, you'll be payed handsomely if you decide to preform it correctly," He cleared his throat and urged me closer. "I need you to place this charge on the atomic bomb outside and hurry over to Tenpenny tower," My eyes widened and I stood back.

"No I can't do that! Natsumi lives here and there's a lot of innocent people. Plus, it's already been deactivated by her," He shook his head and folded his arms neatly across his chest.

"I'll pay you 500 caps for you to reactivate it and place the charge. You have no real connections here, so you wont be held down by anything," I averted my eyes towards the window.

* * *

"Can I tell anyone," "No that would take the point out of the whole mission," "Fine Mister Burke, make it 1000 caps and you might find a surprise from this you silly man," He flushed and fixed his tie.  
"Why of course, a woman like yourself deserves to be spoiled. After you're finished head to Tenpenny tower south of here and we can watch the blast together," He handed me a small charge and made his way from the saloon. I pocketed it and rushed out, remembering the mission in Minefield that needed to be completed. Hopefully, I could inform Natsumi quickly and leave by tonight after completing the first chapter of the book.

/

Natsumi

I sighed leaning back into the tub that rested in the back of my house. The hair cut I had received from Wadsworth freed my neck from the longish hair making me feel free again. The day had barely started when Muka announced she wanted to leave for a while. I didn't argue with her, knowing that should would eventually come back, she usually did this whenever something was bothering her. I slipped from the tub and dried off pulling on a pair of goggles and a red adventures outfit. It was now close to 3 when I woke up just to see no one in the house, except for Wadsworth and Konta. So, I laid out on the couch with the small black kitty on my lap and read my big science book.

The door opened behind me and in came Candace with a dog at her heel.

"What happened to you? And who's your little cute friend?" She huffed out a groan and fell in a chair.

"This is dogmeat, I found him at the Scrapyard. I just finished the first chapter of Moira's book and I'm really exhausted," I smiled and requested Wadsworth bring her some water. "Thank you, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. We...need to leave by tonight and head for Tenpenny tower," I sat up and dropped the book on the floor.

"Why's that? What did you do?" She gulped and leaned back into her seat.

"Well I rushed in because I kinda well... I kindaactivatedthebomboutsideandweneedtoleave," I frowned and rubbed my nose.

"You activated the bomb out there? That's not possible, I deactivated that months ago," "No, I placed a charge inside of it,"

"Why the fuck would you do that!? There are innocent people living here, don't you care for their safety!" She grimaced and put her head into her hands. I stood up and placed the furball on the couch and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" "If I can't disarm it, I'm at least going to tell some of the residents. Wadsworth, please begin packing up all food and essentials inside of Muka's chambers. Ace wrap up any food and equipment you can find okay. Tonight we'll leave after everyone is sleeping, and I'll take the brahmin outside. Don't leave the house until I come back, and wait for Muka," I went out the door and made my way towards the saloon, thoughts running through my head.

'Maybe this is the adventure I was looking for,' I walked inside and looked around, finding Gob and Nova at the counter.

"Hey there Sumi, what are you doing here so early? Come for a drink?" I shook my head.

"No, look I need to talk to you two. Is there anywhere we could talk privately?" They glanced at each other. Nova nodded and led me up to Gobs room.

"What's the problem Natsumi?" I paced back and forth in the small room.

"Pack up all you can and meet me outside by midnight. We're leaving for Tenpenny Tower," "Why do we need to go to that bigot community?" Gob asked unsettled.

"Look that bomb is going to explode and if we don't leave, you will all die! I'll figure something out when we get there, just prepare yourselves. I will go get Billy and tell him to take the kids and go on a trip, Moira's going somewhere already and I'll find Jericho and hire his assistance. Just pack your things, please? You guys mean a lot to me and you don't deserve to die with Moriarty,"

"If that's what you want. Gob and I will meet you outside the gate at midnight. You better not be fucking around Natsumi," I bowed my head and ran out of the room and down the stairs. Just a few more people and then I could get ready.

"Why should I join up with you? You're nothing but a goody two shoes," He snorted out a laugh and took a long drag from his cigarette. I took the stick and tossed it to the side.

"Look, I know you and I don't get a long, but I could really use your help with the travel. When we get to Tenpenny tower you can to whatever the fuck you want, just for now I'm going to need your help stealing supplies and food for the trip and getting the brahmin out quietly," His cold eyes pierced into mine. He stood from his stoop and glared down at me.

"Alright short stuff, I'll help you out. But when our trip is over you better give me a room and a carton of cigarettes," I shook his hand and took off for the two brahmin outside the clinic. Animals were never much of an issue when it came to listening to me, so giving them the look made them moo out in understanding. Billy was going to leave for Girdershade and meet us at Tenpenny tower in a week with Maggie and Harden. Only thing left was to fix any weapons and figure out a way to get Gob into the racist tower. Even if I had to come to drastic measures.

Midnight had rolled in quite quickly. Things were packed into sacks and Muka's chamber. I held the small cat in my arms and sneaked over to the Brahmin slipping the caravaner packs for food and medicine over there bodies. I snapped the lock and led them to the gate. Muka carried her chamber out over her head, Wadsworth at her ankles. Ace held a few weapons on her back along with her backpack and was waiting out front with dogmeat.

"Are you ready to leave yet?" I shook my head and walked over to the Protecotron and began reprogramming it.

"Yes, Natsumi-sama, how may I assist you?" It's robot like voice asked.

"You will accompany us on our trip and take resident at Tenpenny tower," "As you wish Natsumi-sama," I let out a sigh and waited for the last 3 companions to come out from the town.

"Alright I'm here, can we get going now?" Jericho stated, his assault rifle on his back and a small pack.

"One more moment," The doors opened again revealing Gob and Nova with small weapons and 2 larger packs rested on their backs.

"Okay now we can leave. Muka you guard the back. Ace you lead the way with Jericho, Wadsworth take left flank, I'll take right flank and gob and Nova will walk in the middle with the Brahmin. Let's get a move on people, this is going to take a few hours," I stated allowing the protectotron to make it's way to Muka's side. I placed Konta in Gobs arms and pulled out my scoped plasma rifle and began walking. Finally after 2 years I could go on another adventure. Wasn't what I expected, but it was definitely close enough.


	3. Chapter 3

Ranger

The area was consumed with giggling woman and annoying men. All with their heads far up their asses. I was just the hired help, there to make sure no trouble makers entered the vicinity. Like I gave a rats ass. With how the wastes were, they wouldn't even let in the ghouls just because they lacked skin. Hell, if they can fire a weapon and hold their liquor they were okay in my book. I lighted another cigarette and sucked in the toxic fumes.

"Kyome I don't think you should be relaxing so much. If Gustavo catches you, you'll be in big trouble," One of the guards, which I didn't bother to remember his name, stated nudging me with the end of his rifle. I scowled and pushed it away and leaned up against the wall. I was a ranger for god sakes, I knew when there was trouble and how to handle it better than all these prissy assholes.

"How about you not touch me? I'll break your fucking fingers," He flinched away and faced forward. I smirked and died out my stick on the wall. I'm Kyome Gato, one of the craziest bitches out in the wasteland. I was kicked from the Rangers not to long ago and now I'm stuck being Tenpennys slave. This wasn't really what I wanted at all, and none of the guys here supplied me with a good fuck. Pansies. The guys around here were nothing like where I grew up. My older brother Kaito would have punched someone in the mouth if they even talked to him like they do to me. Kyoko on the other hand would of shook it out and went on with her business. I was the same in some ways. Being twins made you like that.

What I wanted was to show these bigot assholes what's coming to them, but there's only one of me and too many of them. Gustavo wont let me go on my own to handle the ghouls, probably thinks I'm going to pull one over on him. Which he's right, I wanted to see him get his ass kicked by that Roy Phillip he's always cussing out every day.

"Hey I'm going out to get some fresh air, watch my post," I chuckled out and made my way to the front doors. 10Am was too early for me to be awake, I preferred traveling at night when I'm more alert.

"Look I told you there's no way you're coming in here, now why don't you just make your way to your sewers zombie," Gustavo yelled into the intercom making me flinch.

"You just wait and see what happens, this isn't going to be the end!" Roys coarse voice sounded back signaling his dismissal. I leaned against the cool stone and watched the clouds.

'Even after all the radiation, it still looks nice,' The intercom sounded again with a feminine voice.

"Hello?" "Look I thought I told you to get your ass and leave!" I rolled my eyes at the dumbass.

"Do you kiss your mother with that fucking mouth asshole? She didn't say anything wrong!" Another voice sounded causing Gustavo to sputter.

"Sorry, you are trespassing on Tenpenny soil, what is your reasons for being here?" He replied back. The same voice came back stating something about Mister Burke and he opened the gates. Then in came a group. First 2 women around my age one with turquoise hair and a bitter scowl the next with a shy timid look. There was a mister handy bot, a protectotron, 2 brahmin, another female, a ghoul, a dog, a tan man with a cigarette in between his lips, and finally a woman carrying a large container over her head.

"Look we don't take ghouls in here, so if he's with you take a hike," The tealnette stepped forward and glared at the seated man.

"Ace go take care of whatever you need to do. Nova why don't you take Muka and sit over there with Konta. Jericho..." "I'm going to take a piss," The tan man left them and headed towards me. Our eyes met and my eyes trailed down his muscular tone.

"Hey babe where can I find the john?" He blew smoke into my face.

"I aint your babe first off, say it again and I'll rip your tongue out. It's inside to your right," He smirked and went inside, the quiet brown haired girl soon following suite. My eyes trailed back to the small girl arguing with Gustavo.

"Fine you don't want any ghouls here, than I'll go deal with your ghoul troubles for you how about that?" He scuffed and glared back at her.

"You couldn't do it even if you tried," "Actually I can. Muka locate the area of which this Roy Phillip is located and route the closest way to get to him," I smirked and made my way over to her.

"If you don't mind me intruding, I'd like to come along and assist you both. Gustavo, I'll go with..." I waited for her to say her name.

"Oh I'm Natsumi Kimura, and this is Gob,"

"Gob and Natsumi, and take 'care' of Roy. Don't wait up sweetheart," I chuckled and made my way out of the gate.

"Fine, you better return to your post when you get back," I glanced out hearing a huge explosion rumble the air.

"Guess Megaton's off the map," Gustavo chuckled and raised up walking back to the doors.

"Where did you two come from?" I asked walked down the trail to the old train yard. Their faces help sadness.

"Megaton," came from Gob who look distanced now.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't a bad town at all. Tenpenny's just an asshole," I replied.

"Wait are you going to harm those ghouls?" Natsumi asked suddenly coming from the back with her android. I side glanced her and lit up another cigarette.

"Course not, they're not bad people. Worked with them a few times myself. I'm going to make a deal with Roy and get him to help me kill off these greedy assholes," She gasped.

"Hear that Gob! We can get you into this place and get other ghouls to live here! Wah that's great news! You have Muka and I at your disposal um..."

"Kyome Gato. That's nice to hear, not many people want to help out ghouls anymore. I just want to put a bullet through Tenpenny's head,"

"Natsumi-sama would risk her life for any ghoul. They are her favorite after all," Muka responded shooting a feral ghoul in the face.

"Muka can't we not kill them? They're not able to control themselves," Natsumi pleaded earning a concerning look from the android.

"No Natsumi-sama. They will endanger you and Gato's lives," Damn Android was like a little pet. Oh well get this done and over with.

"You want to actually aid me on my plans?" Roy said glancing between us.

"Yes, I'm tired of those hateful bigots," I commented crossing my arms over my chest.

"Well I am too, but I have some concerns," He rose what appeared to be his eyebrow.

"What would that be? Surely someone with your understanding of ghouls would be able to know the consequences," Natsumi nodded.

"Yes I am, but my concerns are my friends. I want the pent house area handed over to me. 3 rooms on that floor will be for Ace, Kyome, and I. I need a lab to work on my studies as well. I will be bringing humans into this place, I don't want them harmed or Muka will kill everyone. I will repair the piping and filter the water to run clean with whichever areas you want. No one is to eat my cat, and Gob is to have the key to the bar downstairs. As long as the feral ghouls do not enter our rooms on the top floors and try to kill my friends I will be fine," He placed his hand on his cheek.

"You got yourself a deal smoothskin. Here, take this mask. It will keep the ferals from attacking you whenever you are around. We will be waiting by the emergency escape tunnels, don't keep me waiting long kid," Roy ran back towards the tunnels leaving us. Natsumi placed the mask into her bag.

"Alright I'll break into the basement and hack my way in. Gob why don't you come through with them? That way you don't have to wait around. Muka go and make sure Nova stays inside the penthouse with Konta and Wadsworth," She turned to me and smiled. "Yome, think you're up to paying Tenpenny a visit," I smirked and punched her shoulder, "of course I fucking am, lets get going,"

We had arrived back to Tenpenny Towers only to see the brown headed girl waiting for us with I'm guessing Nova.

"What took you so long? Wadsworth took the chambers upstairs," "Where's Gob?"

"Gob is waiting with the other ghouls for the attack on this place. Which means Nova you're going to have to sit tight in the penthouse for the week until Gob comes to get you when it's safe,"

"What about you guys then? I'll be more than happy to relax up there, but obviously the ghouls will attack you when you go in there," She shook her head lightly.  
"No there's this place called the underworld I've been dying to check out in D.C. I think maybe we will go there while Ace heads to the GNR studio to check for her dad. Muka get Nova up there and lock the doors. Meet me by the basement and we'll start heading for Underworld," She turned to me.

"If you'd like, you can meet us there too. Jericho is inside somewhere and I'm pretty sure that bastard wants to get out too. So why don't you take a route, go kill some shit and meet us at Underworld?" I just stared at her. Never before had I met someone who was willing to befriend a stranger.

"Well if that's what you want Natsumi. C'mon Dogmeat lets get going," The brunette then began walking off. Soon Natsumi walked towards the basement leaving me alone. I tossed my cigarette down and marched back into the place. I walked over to the tanned man who was leaned up against the wall in the bar, a cold one in his hands.

"Oh what do you want? Come to bother me with your little games?" He asked taking a swig.

"No asshole, I've got things to do and I thought maybe you'd want to accompany me. It's lonely traveling the wastes alone, and I need a killing buddy," He smirked and pulled out a smoke and lit it up.

"Alright girly I'll come along. But don't expect me to watch your back," I smirked back and began heading towards the elevator.

"Why are we going up here?" "I have something I need to do first," I replied eagerly, my heart pounding in my chest. We got out of the elevator and passed Muka who nodded her head.

"No one's going in there," The guard outside Tenpenny's room stated giving me a stern look. I rolled my eyes and took my shaved off shotgun off my back and unloaded a shot into his head. I unlocked the door and made my way to the balcony.

"Oh Kyome what is it that you want?" I smirked and held up my gun.

"Our time together is over Tenpenny," I unloaded a shot into his head and let out a sigh.

"Damn wouldn't have guessed someone like you would actually be fun," Jericho chuckled and we made our way back to the elevator. "Where are we headed now then?"

"My names Kyome. We're going to Underworld for a few drinks with the ghouls," "Sounds fine by me Kyome," So then we left the hotel just in time to hear the many ghouls coming up from the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

The Paladin

I was born in a small town north of DC. My parents were murdered by raiders and the peace was never kept in our small town before it was destroyed. I was 16 at the time and took my little brother with me to the Citadel hoping I could be trained by the Brotherhood. I had arrived at the gates 2 days later; tired and hungry. The commander at the time refused to let us in, saying 'we don't need any children running around'. I was enraged, my little brother was going to die, I needed to get in there. I argued with the older man, saying how our town was destroyed by raiders and that we weren't going to survive on our own. He shook his head and told us to leave again.

We sat out there for hours and hours holding our position. It wasn't until Elder Lyons arrived that I knew we were going to be alright. He brought us in and fed us a nice meal giving us the chance to relax. His daughter Sarah had automatically taken me in and welcomed me to the Citadel while my brother played with the other kids that were there. I told her that I wanted to be a brother of steel, that I wanted to protect those from the enemy. She agreed with me and told her of her plan to create the Lyons pride. So we decided to get a few other teens and enter for training.

Days turned into months of grueling and unbearable training until we were finally given our power armor. During those days I met Atsushi Kimura. We fell in love and soon he let me meet his family. They were such a happy bunch. His parents Noburou and Sasami were scribes of the steel and were always busy with work, so I didn't get to see them for too long. Then I met the twins. Maasaki and Natsumi were the cutest kids I had ever met. They were only about 7 years old at the time when we first met. I usually spent my time with the two helping them learn about the steel. Maasaki took great interest in it and wanted to become a Knight. Natsumi however stayed away as much as possible. She would keep herself cooped up in the lab for hours just looking, or examining at least that's what it seemed like, Liberty Prime. I didn't question it so I helped train the turquoise haired boy. 6 years passed while we were stationed in the Citadel and Atsushi had asked me to marry him. We had a small wedding in the barracks and life finally felt like it was pulling back together. Sarah brought other news saying that her father had finally allowed Lyons pride to station at Chevy Chase until further notice. I was ecstatic. It was going to take a year to prep the necessary supplies for the journey so the team spent most hours either shooting or reading up in the Lab. The year I spent in the Lab I learned a lot of things. One- never touch the head scribes coffee; he'll try to take your head off with a plasma rifle. Two-Liberty Prime is scary as hell. Three-Natsumi is actually a very smart girl. The time I spent around the 13 year old proved to be quite a learning experience. She was working on what seemed to be blue prints for a robot of sorts; she wouldn't show me too much out of embarrassment. By the time the year ended we were finally ready to leave and we headed out for our destination.

We packed up our things and said our goodbyes before heading out for the destination. On the way there we fought multiple Super Mutants and raiders while we pushed our way through to the East side of Chevy Chase.

We made it! After 7 years of hard work, sweat, blood, and tears I finally reached where I wanted to be. I had great friends, a loving husband, and my baby brother was safe in the Citadel where I know nothing could hurt him. I was finally happy...

Over the next few years the Super Mutants began getting more vicious. They wanted the land to themselves and were doing anything to separate us from DC. Battles got tougher and the lifestyle we all got accustomed to began to fade. Our team was beginning to dwindle in numbers and our friends began to die. The holotags began to build up in my collection while I cried silent tears in Atsushi's arms. He'd say 'Kimiko, don't worry everything is going to be alright. As long as we have each other, everything will be alright,' At first it was comforting, but over the last few years it began to feel like he was only trying to reassure himself.

11 years had passed since I left my home to join the Steel. Now, I finally got my first mission. The mission that broke my life and crushed my career.

The mission was to head to GNR to supply our brothers with back up, since they were overrun with Mutants. So for the first time in 4 years, I traveled through the DC ruins to the big radio station. Sadly, we didn't get very far. We were detoured to the other side of the station and made our way to the southern side. That's where things went down hill. Rocket launchers and fat mans were equipped to the super mutants. We hid behind buildings for hours until we had thought the coast was clear. I had been the first one out and I was firing my automatic and running as fast as my legs would take me. It was too late. They had one more mini nuke left and fired it at me. My life flashed before my eyes feeling that everything was going too slowly. Atsushi had made to my side and tossed a grenade behind the Super Mutant pit and pushed me away. Not before uttering a single 'I Love You' before the mini nuke made contact with his body, killing him on impact. My heart shattered as I layed there frozen on my side staring at the pile of mush and blood that used to be my husband. The screams of my teammates came from above me as they charged in and finished off the rest of the pests. Reality struck when Sarah was above me with tears in her eyes and holding me up in a sitting position. I felt no pain, no tears, just emptiness.

"Kimi...your arms gone," My eyes had darted to my left arm which wasn't there. In it's place was blood pouring out of my socket and searing pain that coursed through my veins.

That brings us to where we are now. I sat up against the wall drugged with Med-X to keep the pain of my amputated arm and my broken heart away. I was ruined, I had nothing. I held the holotag in my hand and couldn't find the tears to cry.

"Damn it looks like they aren't going to leave anytime soon...and I think I hear more coming from behind us," Sarah stated exhaling dramatically as if trying to calm herself down. Gun shots knocked me out of my thoughts and I stood up and away from my fallen comrade.

"Are you stupid or something?! Kid get over here before I shoot you myself!" I heard Sarah yell and went over to see what all the noise was about. I was confused. Before me stood a young girl no older than 20 with an assault rifle and a dog at her heel. She had taken out the other super mutants by herself and now stood patiently in front of us. Her brown hair was tied up and behind her eyes I could see the amount of fear that was present.

"I'm sorry! Look I'm I need to go see Three Dog and ask him about my dad!" Sarah sighed and looked at me.

"Look we have injured people and I don't have time for little kids," I placed my bare hand on her shoulder and smiled. My chest was bandaged over to my nub of an arm which was stitched up sloppily.

"You can come along, but you'll need to help us get there. We have Super Mutants all in front of our path," We led her to the corner and she looked around noting Jennings on the mattress. I glanced over at Vargas, Reddin, and Colvin all waiting for Sarah and I to join them. I picked up my weapon.

"Kimi maybe you should stay back, ya know just until we make it in there," Reddin uttered looking me over. I frowned deeply.

"No, I need to come along too. I can't just..."

"What and end up a pile of mush like Atsushi?" Vargas commented giving me a sly grin. My blood pressure rose as I aimed my weapon at him.

"Don't you DARE insult him like that again Vargas! I'm going!" He prepared to send back another comment when Sarah smacked him.

"This isn't the time, Kimi stay in the back! You are not to join us in the front ranks," I nodded and glanced over to the kid or looked extremely nervous. The team started moving and I just stayed there barely able to hold up my rifle.

'I'm useless to them now. Atsushi I'm sorry,' I thought and leaned up against the wall. There was no point in my following behind, as much as I hate to admit it, Vargas was right. If I go out there in the condition I'm in, I'll get blown to pieces. I peeked around the corner seeing the front of the building cleared out.

"Might as well start walking," My feet began taking me towards the battle field, guns being fired in the distance. I took my pistol off my power armor pants and aimed around, no enemies left. I slumped my shoulders and began my way through the destroyed building coming into view of the behemoth attacking the Paladin. I rose my pistol and took a few shots taking it's eyes off of the kid.

'Atsushi, I'm going to be joining you sooner than you think,' I thought and watched as it came towards me. But it stopped and fell to the ground after taking a blow from the fat man the kid took off of Reddins dead body. She ran over to it's body and picked around it looking for any scrapes and took off towards the GNR building which was now unlocked.

"Poor Reddin, had it coming charging into battle like that," Vargas stated looking over his fallen comrade. He made his way towards the building as well disappearing inside. I turned my gaze to Sarah who was looking me over.

"Kimiko, we need to talk," I was crestfallen, I knew what was coming. Colvin put his hand on her shoulder.

"Let me do it, Lyons," He approached me holding a grim look. "Kimiko Sengoku, as of today you are no longer aloud to travel with this team. You are put on automatic leave and are to report directly to the Citadel," He scratched his head and avoided eye contact. "I'm sorry about your husband. Kimura was a great friend,"

"Thank you sir...I'll stay in GNR for a little bit before I head back if that's okay," He nodded and we walked into the building ending my career.

I sat up against the wall and watched the others talk, keeping away from me like I was the plague. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what life would have been like if we had just stayed in the Citadel. If we would have done that, Atsushi would probably still be alive, Atsushi would be the father of my children. But no, my plans got him killed. I cussed under my breath and tightened my grip. To top it off, I'm combat incapable.

"Um excuse me?" I opened my eyes and stared down at the young girl that we had picked up.

"Hey thanks for the hand out there kid," Her eyebrows knitted together and she stared at me.

"I want you to accompany me," My eyes widened at her request. Was she serious?

"Look in this condition, I'm not going to be much help," I looked down at my nub and sighed.

"My friend, she's really good with robots and she's a scientist. I think she can help you. Please come with me," Her eyes looked lost and pleading. I blinked a few times and decided.

"Screw it, I might as well take the chance," I got off the wall and pulled on the shirt I was given. "I'm Sengoku, Kimiko. It's nice to meet you kid," She smiled lightly and took my hand.

"Candace Waters. Candy or Ace is fine. Oh, and this is dogmeat," she said pointing down to the dog at her side. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad, maybe just maybe, I could rebuild my life.

We had traveled the Metros and battled ghouls, Super Mutants, and Raiders until we reached the Mall. Candace had eagerly ran out of the ghoul infested tunnels only to duck behind some rubble. I sighed and checked the scene.

"The Museum of Technology should be down this path. Just watch out, Super Mutants like to station themselves in the middle of the land," She turned to me and nodded traveling down the path quickly shooting at anything that moved; obviously she was a novice. I mentally sighed and ran after her holding my pistol up for clearance.

We made it to the front doors of the Museum and she stopped.

"What's the matter?" I asked watching her shift her eyes to my arm.

"Do you want to wait out here? I mean, there should be a lot of Mutants in there..." She was worrying too much. I scoffed and placed my hand on the door.

"Kid, I've been in this business for 11 years and then some. I'll manage," She flinched and nodded her head before following me inside.

We took out the first few Mutants at the front and she looked down at her Pipboy.

"It's telling me to go upstairs, c'mon," she said and walked towards the stairs and over to the Vault exhibit. She smiled a tad and entered it listening to the play through.

"Kinda feels just like home," she spoke quietly and continued on her way. I watched her back carefully seeing her shoulders shaking.

I wasn't the only one grieving here, her reasons were probably different than mine, but something told me that I wasn't alone.

"I think we're done," She commented having placed the Satellite on the radio transmitter. The radio came on loudly, Three Dogs broadcast ringing from it. It had taken us an hour or two to travel around in the Museum, but it felt like a field trip. "Can you stay here?" I glanced at her questionably getting a pleaded look. "Please, I need to travel back to GNR radio and talk to Three Dog, I'll definitely come back for you, I promise. Maybe get some sleep over there," I frowned and looked over at the mattress which looked rather inviting.

"Fine, but you better come back. Or I'll hunt you down myself," I settled myself on the mattress and laid down.

"Alright, dogmeat, stay here," The dog whined and sat down watching his master go into the elevator and disappear.

"Least now I know she'll come back," I said to myself and ushered dogmeat over to me who complied and layed by my legs. I closed my eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

"Oi, Kimiko, wake up. Oi!" I opened my eyes tiredly and sat up glancing at the brunette that I was traveling with. "Good you're awake. I changed your bandages while you were sleeping if you don't mind. You were bleeding pretty bad," I smiled at her and stood up with her help.  
"So where to from here?" I asked pulling my brown shirt over my head.

"Um...Do you know where Underworld is?" She chuckled nervously and took something out of her bag. "Oh here, I thought you'd be tired of wearing those power armor bottoms so I went out and got you an outfit. The guy said it was a grunts outfit," She handed me a pile of clothing and I looked it over. A plain white tee-shirt, dark green pants, and brown sturdy boots.

"Thanks Ace, this means a lot," I started stripping, with her help of course, and slipped on the outfit. I pulled out my bun and let my long hair fall down my back. "Hey can you braid this for me? I know you got to go somewhere, but I'd like to look different," She grinned and got behind me quickly and started fiddling with my hair. When she was done I laid the plait over my good shoulder and holstered my pistol. I pulled my bag over my shoulder along with my rifle and looked at her.

"Ready to go?" She nodded excitedly and entered the elevator with me following her close behind.

"Bout time your ass arrived. I was getting bored sitting here listening to Jericho," The purple haired woman stated looked at Candace. I looked around the small bar.

"Oh more humans, you look pretty miserable, pull up a stool and tell Uncle Ahzrukhal all about it," The bartender said making Ace get a little jumpy.

"I don't even think you're old enough to drink," I stated and sat down next to the purplenette.

"Ouch, what happened to your arm?" She asked looking over my left side.

"Got it blown off by a mini nuke in a battle with some super mutants and behemoths," I stated back she made an o with her mouth and glanced back at the bartender.

"Yo you got anymore smokes?" "You got the caps?" She grumbled and pulled out the caps dropping them on the counter. Her partner laughed and popped a cigarette in his mouth.

"I'm Kyome by the way, the pain in the ass next to me is Jericho, we're um friends of Candace," I looked to the young girl for clearance and she nodded.

"I'm Pala..." I stopped and glanced down. "I'm Kimiko. Are you the scientist that Candace has told me about?" She laughed and shook her head.

"Hey bring this woman a drink, on me. This fucker isn't even close to being a scientist," Jericho laughed putting a few caps down. "The big breasted twat isn't here yet. Probably fucking every ghoul on the way here," He took a drag and stalked to the other side of the room with his drink. Kyome groaned.

"He's such an asshole. Look I just met the girl a few days ago, so I don't know much about her," I frowned. "But if you're looking for someone to build you an arm I think she can actually do it,"

"I know she can do it," Candace stated looking over at us intently. "She built an android with her bare hands, if she can do that she can definitely conger up an arm for you," I sat there shocked. Android? I thought they were a myth.


	5. Chapter 5

Natsumi

I walked around the metro tunnels in awe touching the ferals with my hands even though Muka said not too. We fought off some raiders on the way here and took a hold of their things.

"Luckyy~ look at all this neat stuff Muka! I think I could probably even make a new weapon with this," I giggled and walked around some more ghouls before coming to the end of the tunnel and stepping out. The sun barely touched me behind my mask as Muka walked around me. "So Underworld should be...right down there. Oh look doggies~" I squealed out and ran over to the dogs petting their fur.

"Natsumi-sama, please stop delaying. We're already 10 minutes late on our arrival," She reminded me. I stood up and followed her, walking down the long path in my blue charmers outfit which was customized so my breast weren't pressed in. The short skirt and high stockings also gave off a different look which resembled Muka's a bit. "More tourists have you come to look around at the Mall?" I tilted my head to the side.

"Well I guess if you count me wanting to tour around in Underworld then yes," I pointed ahead. "In there right?"

"You're a strange one. Yea it's through there, I'm Willow by the way,"

"Natsumi," I responded back and made my way to the entrance and walked through with Muka at my heel.

The place was definitely nice, tall ceilings and even ghouls! Lots and lots of ghouls.

"I'm in paradise," I uttered and looked around.

"For a second there I almost took you for one of us. Welcome to Underworld," A ghoul in a mechanics outfit stated coming up to me. I reached out and shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure to be here! I'm Natsumi Kimura, self proclaimed scientist and engineer," He chuckled and retrieved his hand.

"Not many humans go around touching ghouls. I'm Winthrop, the mechanic around here. I make sure all the pipes are working," Muka kept quiet and looked around.

"Oh wow! Oh this is Muka, she's a friend of mine. Which reminds me," I leaned on my foot and crossed my arms. "Have you seen a few humans come in here?"

"As a matter o' fact I have. They should still be up in the Ninth Circle. And since you're such a nice girl I thought I'd give you some advice. Don't piss off Ahzrukhal, or he'll sic Charon on you," I nodded my head and went over to the stairs.

"Yay~ I get to have a drink, drink, drink,~" I sang out since my rations were long since drained from the middle of our journey.

"Natsumi-sama, I suggest not drinking too much. You're a light weight," I blew a raspberry and opened the door.

"Am not," I glanced at the 3 figures that sat at the counter of the bar. Kyome turned around and looked me over.

"Bout time your ass arrived," The other two turned and Ace practically jumped out of her seat. I eyes wandered the room until they came upon the tall ghoul that was standing in the corner, watching my every move. I grinned and approached him. I opened my mouth to speak but he beat me to it.

"Talk. To. Ahzrukhal," My face fell and I gaped.

"But, I just," His face showed irritation at me bothering him.

"No. Talk. To. Ahzrukhal," He repeated making me groan.

"Fine, I'll 'talk to Ahzrukhal'," I mimicked turning around and shrugging. "Geez can't even flirt with anyone today," Muka tapped my shoulder. "Huh, what is it?"

"I'd like to ask permission to wander the premiss," I smacked her arm making her eyebrow raise.

"I'm not your owner, go do what you want, just don't cause any trouble," She bowed her head quickly before heading for the door. I sat down at the empty stool and stretched.

"Whiskey please bar man!" I chimed looking at the ghoul. He nodded his head and went to the cabinet.

"Hey that's a good look for you, really makes you blend in with your hobbies," I irked and glanced at Jericho who held a smug look. I reached up at my mask and pulled it off letting my turquoise hair turn to a mess. I combed my hands through my hair and glared at him. "Oh nevermind, you're still a big breasted twat," I ignored him and put away my mask and grabbed my goggles pulling them into my hair holding it back showing my ears.

"Kyome control your man before I mess with his chromosomes when he's sleeping and turn him into a woman," I took my whiskey and popped open the bottle and started to down it, the warm feeling coming up in my chest.

"Yeah, well even behind your body and looks, you still drink like a man," He snorted and sat down at the table after being dragged to it.

"Natsumi, I want you to meet a friend of mine," Candace said coming beside me, I put the half empty bottle down and looked at her.

"I would have never thought that little Natsumi was the scientist," The familiar voice rang and Ace looked confused. I glanced past her and looked at the orange haired woman who looked at me from her beer. "Been some time," I leaned on the counter and gazed over her.

"Paladin Kimiko Kimura. It really has been sometime. How'd you manage to get your arm blown off?" I picked up my bottle and began to drink again.

"I'm not a Paladin anymore," I had figured that out already. "We got into a fire fight 2 days ago and a mini nuke was fired at me," Her facial expression changed from soft to pitiful. "Which means, I'm not a Kimura anymore either," Ace glanced between the two of us as I ordered another drink. It got silent.

"So I'm guessing, Atsushi played hero and got himself killed? Figures he was always so brash," I shrugged and put back the shot. I refilled it and watched her from the corner of my eye. I downed the next one. "So why are you here to see me? Obviously not to just tell me that my stupid older brother is dead," I took two more shots feeling lightheaded.

"You created the first android all those years ago," "When I was 14, what about her?" She clenched her hand around the bottle.

"I'm asking you to please build me an arm," I heard her, but I glanced at the bartender.

"Hey you Ahzrukhal?" I wondered.

"I am, and what can I do for you," I pointed my thumb to the bodyguard.

"What's his story?" He smirked and leaned forward.

"Him, that's Charon. He's my bodyguard and he'll do anything I tell him. He was raised in a group where he was brainwashed into thinking anyone who has his contract he has to follow," "So you tell him what to do, and he protects your bar?"

"Pretty much, I point at something and Charon hurts it. He's the best thug a corrupt bartender could ever ask for. He never bothers me with his own annoying sense of morality,"

"Doesn't that make him a slave?" His face held mock hurt.

"I don't believe in slavery miss,"

"How much for his contract? 1000 sounds a bit realistic," "No, 2000 sounds better in my ears. It's a contract to your personal bodyguard," I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"I'll be back later to discuss the price," I placed the caps for my drinks on the table and glanced at the bodyguard catching his eyes. "You'll be mine soon, don't worry, ," I winked at him and walked out of the bar leaving the two girls there.

"Muka," I spoke leaning on the railing. She jumped up from below me and stood on the railing.

"Yes, Natsumi-sama. How can I assist you?" "Find me..." I began explaining the needed materials and left her to find the things I needed.

I stood in the Chop Shop laying out the materials I had on a table. The doctor watched me with interest.

"What are you making?" "An arm. A synthetic human arm in other terms,"

"Natsumi-sama, I have retrieved the necessary materials like you asked," Muka layed them down in front of me and sat down.

"I'm going to need you to hold it still while I construct the 'bones'," I ordered, she nodded her head and placed on the face protector, we were going to be here a while.

Day later

"That's...That's amazing!" Doctor Barrows gasped in shock looking over the synthetic arm I built. It's fingers and everything were the color of Kimiko's skin. The 'veins' at the end were inside of the arm.

"Thank you, I take great pride in what I do. Anything extra you can keep," I offered wrapping the arm in a cloth and standing up. I had worked through the night to make an arm to surprise Kimiko with. Atsushi would have wanted her to live a full and happy life.

"Natsumi-sama would you like to rest?" Muka asked leaning over me. I shook my head and looked at my pipboy watch. 12:16pm.

"Nope, I'm good, lets head to the bar," I beamed and walked out of the Shop saying a bright goodbye to the ghouls. "I wonder if it will fit," We walked around to the stairs and went up them.

"Oi, Natsumi," I glanced up looking at Kyome who looked well rested.

"You look happy, have sex with Jericho last night?" She smirked and opened the door to the bar.

"Nah, that was yesterday. Candy said you snubbed Kimiko yesterday," I rolled my eyes at her and walked through the door. I glanced around seeing Kimiko sitting at a table with Ace.

"No, I like surprising people," I yawned walking over to them.

"Natsumi," Ace jumped looking at me. Kimiko looked well rested and smiled at me.

"Hey kid, you look tired," She speculated looking over my features. I was extremely tired if ya want to get technical. I placed the clothed arm on the table and pulled out a stinpak and Med-X.

"Take off your shirt," I commanded. She made a face.

"My bar isn't a strip joint!" Ahzrukhal shouted over to me. I rolled my eyes and repeated myself. She complied and removed her shirt with the help of Ace. "Aren't you listening, hey you..." Muka stood in front of him getting Charons attention.

"Just watch, Natsumi-sama works hard on her projects," He went quiet. I trailed my eyes over her arm bandages and ripped them off. She hissed in pain and brought up her arm to cover her chest.

"What are you doing?!"

"Will you shut up, I'm not in the mood for yelling," Kyome snorted behind me. I grabbed the Med-X and injected it into her arm. Her muscles relaxed. I reached over and grabbed the arm taking it out of the cover. A few gasps came from my onlookers.

"You...you actually made it?" Kimiko stuttered looking it over.

"I'm not sure how it feels, but I know once it connects it should function like a normal arm," I took the scalpel and cut the 'veins' loose and reached over for her stitches. I cut them out and blood began to ooze. I held the arm under her limb and the veins shot out and into her arm. She gasped and reached for it. Ace grabbed her hand and winced. The arm pulled itself up and spun around a bit before locking itself into position on her arm. She breathed out shakily and looked down. It looked as if her arm was never blown off.

"How's it feel?" I grabbed the stinpak and gabbed it in between the prosthetic and her real arm. Immediately, she rose her arm and made a fist. She stood up and looked down at me.

"That's...that's incredible," She breathed out, everyone was silent not saying a word. "Let me pay you," She dug through for caps and I stopped her.

"Well if you want to pay me, come with us," She stopped and looked me over. I held a tired smile. "It's the least you can do for having me stay up all night," I joked. She held up her new arm and gripped my hand.

"I shall serve you through the steel, until I die Natsumi," I closed my eyes and felt myself lose consciousness falling forward.

"Natsumi!/Natsumi-sama!"

M5-9(Muka)

I glanced over at Natsumi-sama's body which had fallen into Kimiko. The exhaustion from her work finally kicking in.

"Shit is she okay?" Kyome piped leaning over Candace's shoulder.

I approached them and took my master into my arms.

"She is over exhausted. I will bring her to see Doctor Barrows," I volunteered and walked towards the door. I glanced down at her pain ridden face and frowned. When she doesn't get her sleep, she gets like this; every time it seems to get worse. I jumped over the balcony and landed perfectly on my feet and made my way into the chop shop, catching the doctors attention.

"Is she alright?" Barrows questioned as I laid the paled girl down on one of the beds.

"Her radiation levels have increased. I think it may be because of her mutation. Can you please keep an eye on her?" He nodded allowing me to leave the room. I had visited the doctor yesterday asking him about the escaped android. My research I had been doing on the files had been keeping me busy. Apparently there was a doctor called Pinkerton over at Rivet City that knew how to change someones face and do a memory swipe. Since Natsumi is fairly new to robotics, I doubt the android would have known about her. My heart skipped a beat thinking about the possibilities. There were more androids out there, I wasn't sure where, but there were definitely more.

I made my way back up to the Ninth Circle to see the girls inspecting Natsumi-sama's handy work.

"There isn't any mistakes, all the materials used in your arm are present in my entire body," I walked over to where they were sitting and sat down, pulling out the holotapes and notes and placing them on the small table.

"How is she?" Ace asked worriedly.

"Yeah, what happened to her? She just upped and fainted out of nowhere," Kyome jumped in drinking a beer.

"It's not because she stayed up all night is it?" Kimiko recalled.

"She'll be fine after she gets some radaway in her system. Natsumi was mutated into an elf a few years back and when her body becomes exhausted it becomes mun to the side effects," I explained looking over my notes. "She just needs some sleep and she'll be back to her old self in no time,"

"That's good to know, what are you looking at?" Ace pondered curiously peeking over. It may be a good idea to ask them, since Natsumi-sama hadn't really been out much.

"Do you know about the escaped android?"

"I heard somethings about it, like how he wants to change his face to escape the commonwealth. Bunch of bigots," Kyome commented; her face showing irritation.

"I didn't know there were any other androids but you Muka," Ace answered honestly. I passed her the holotapes to listen to and she plugged them into her pipboy.

"I thought they were rumors, but I guess if you could be made by a 14 year old girl, then a bunch of old men could create them as well," Kimiko leaned her face into her hand and checked my notes.

"I'm looking for him, his name was A3-21, but he changed it and his face. He's apparently the most advanced humanoid made by the commonwealth," I glanced at my own gloved hands.

"He may be the most advanced, but I doubt he beats you Muka. Natsumi really must of put her heart and soul into you," Kimiko patted my hand and smiled.

"Aren't you a weapon though?" Kyome reckoned eying me.

"I'm a 4th series android. My mechanics are designed to enable combat mode when needed. I'm strong, but my alloy can be easily destroyed by someone with superhuman strength. Kinda like Natsumi-sama," They all made a sound of confusion.

"That shrimp is stronger than you are?" Kyome denied not believing me.

"Natsumi-sama was induced with deadly radiation. The side effects being elven perception and strength. Her hearing is incredible as well, she could hear a pin drop in a crowded room. If you don't believe me, ask Jericho. Natsumi-sama and him got into a scuffle once before," The said man 'tched' and kept himself turned from the group. Kyome snorted out laughter and pointed at him.

"You're telling me the 'badass' got his ass handed to him by a girl who he is twice the size of? Hahahaha that's amazing!" She bellowed causing the man to get angry.

"I was letting her hurt me! She's a midget, I can't beat up a midget!" He argued back crossing his arms in a huff.

After a few hours of drinking and discussing A3-21 we all decided to settle in for the night. I made my way to the Chop Shop to check up on Natsumi.

"Hey smoothskin," I stopped and glanced beside me noting Doctor Barrows.

"Hello Doctor Barrows. I'm just stopping by to see Natsumi-sama," He frowned.

"You're a little too late. The girl woke up about 20 minutes ago saying 'I have to do something' and left. I don't know where she went though," I checked my pipboy feeling her sensors still in the room. I approached her bed seeing the pipboy laying under the covers. My jaw clenched and anger shot through my body. Where the hell did she go?!

"Kid if you want you can sleep here for the night. She said she'd be back in the morning," I relaxed and nodded my head. Natsumi-sama wouldn't just up and leave without returning. She'll be back, I know it.

Natsumi

I sat in the Metro leaning my back up against the cold walls. I had killed everything in sight calming my body. I didn't want to have to leave like that, but the urges I get are dangerous. I had fallen asleep next to some dead ferals soon after. When I woke up I was being poked by a raider who at the most thought I was dead and wanted to have sex with my body; weirdo. After I had smashed his skull in and taken his caps I relaxed which takes me to where I am now.

'Might as well head back,' I thought and stood up making my way out of the tunnels and to the broken streets of D.C. The sun was now risen indicating that it was close to noon. I hurried over to Underworld knowing that I was going to be in a lot of trouble with my partners.

"Oh looks who came back. Your friends were looking for you, smoothskin," Willow announced smoking a cigarette by the door. I quickly thanked her and rushed into the building nearly knocking over Ace in the process.

"Oh there you are! We were so worried! Where the hell have you been?" I laughed and scratched dogmeats ear.

"I was partying with the ferals sorry. Where's everyone else?" She sighed and started walking back towards Underworld.

"They're waiting near the front door. Muka went nuts when she found your Pipboy without you," I shrugged and followed her.

"I'm not her master or her owner. There's no reason for her to worry about me. She's her own person now, she needs to understand that I can't hold her hand through out life," I resorted without hesitant. She sighed again and opened the doors walking in.

"Guys stop the search, I found her," The others stopped what they were doing and stared at me, like I had just committed murder.

"Oh hey guys, fancy seeing you here, haha," I greeted and rubbed my neck. Kyome irked along with Kimiko.

"Where the hell have you been!? You are the youngest in our group and you just decide to go for a little trip on your own!" Kimiko scolded pointing her finger at me. I averted my gaze and put my pinky in my ear.

"Don't ignore us missy, we should ground her," Kyome had her hands on her hips and she side glanced Kimiko who agreed with her. I flicked the earwax away and smiled at both of them.

"If you decide to 'ground' me, I'll create a virus that only fests on human organs and plant it inside of you both," The sadist look on my face must of made them understand the picture because they turned blue in the face and backed away. "Good, now Muka can I please have my pipboy? I have to go make one more stop," "Natsumi-sama, please don't go too far again," She handed me my pipboy and I placed it back on my arm, snapping it into place. I waved my hand at her and made my way back up to the pub.

"Mind getting Jericho while you're up there?" Kyome added up to me. I made a mental note and entered seeing the big bodyguard Charon leaning against the wall. I noted Jericho at the counter and approached him.

"We're leaving, go wait with the others," I pointed out making him snort. "It wasn't a joke, get moving. We're heading back to Tenpenny Tower,"

"Oh look at you trying to make all the orders now. Ow fuck what was that for," I punched him in the head as he glared at me. "Fine, fine I'll go. Crazy bitch," he paid for his drink and stalked out of the bar. I shook my head and looked at Ahzrukhal.

"Alright, I've come to take Charon back with me. Here's the 1000 caps because there's no reason for me to pay anymore than that," I placed the bag of cap on the counter and he looked at me.

"I guess so...you drive a hard bargain. Alright here's his contract," He took the caps and removed the contract from his safe.

"Congratulations, you're Charon's new employer. I'll let you tell him the good news," I grinned and glanced at the tall ghoul and nearly skipped over to him.

"Talk. To.." I shook my head and grabbed his hands.

"Nuh uh, I'm your employer now. I bought your contract from him," I grinned brightly and put the contract in his hands. He took his hands back and glanced at the old paper. A smirk fell onto his lips. "That's good news right?"

"You purchased my contract from Ahzrukhal? So, I am no longer in his service. That is good to know. Please, wait here. I must take care of something," He placed the contract back into my hands and walked over to Ahzrukhal. I put it away in my bag and watch as he took out his shot gun and shot him in the head then shot him again. I gaped and approached him.

"You shot him!" He looked down at me.

"Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard. So long as he held my contract, I was honor bound to do as he commanded. But now you are my employer, which freed me to rid the world of that disgusting rat. And now, for good or ill, I serve you," I held up my hands.  
"Don't get me wrong, I really want you around. But I'm not in command of you. So Charon, I'm Kimura, Natsumi, and you get to be my new boyfriend," I winked with a playful smile. His face held confusion. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand and starting pulling him out of the bar. "I don't bite, jeez. We're going to be around each other a lot, so you'll need to get used to me," I hinted looking back at him.

"You're human though..." He didn't seem to understand what I was trying to say.

"I'm a human, with an unhealthy liking for ghouls," I laughed and made our way to the others.

"Oh looks like Natsumi's got her very own ghoul now," Kyome chuckled watching us descend down the stairs.

"Everyone, this is Charon. Charon, these are my traveling companions," I introduced each of them and stopped at Jericho. "Oh and that's Jericho, he's with Kyome so he's not really much of my companion,"

"Smoothskin, you leaving already?" I turned to see Winthrop coming towards our group looking us over. "Oh Charon you're going too? Well don't forget to come visit," I gave the older ghoul a hug.

"We'll come back, don't worry Winthrop," I promised and turned back to the group. "Alrighty, back to Tenpenny Towers," I cheered and started walking towards the door.

"I don't think so shorty," I stopped and looked back towards Kyome. "Jericho and I are going separate, I have...some unfinished business to attend to,"

"But...but," I protested quivering my lips. She held her hands up defensively.

"Natsumi, I also have to go a different way. I need to go see a Doctor Li in Rivet City to ask about my dad," Ace admitted.

"I understand, finding your dad is first priority," I related and looked to my other two companions. "What are you two going to do?" Muka held a look of surprise.

"Natsumi-sama, you'll let me go off on my own?" The eagerness in her eyes made me smile.

"I don't control anyone Muka. If you want to do something go do it, you're your own person," I confessed. A small smile tugged to her lips.

"Then Natsumi-sama, I will accompany Candace to Rivet City to meet Dr. Pinkerton," "About the android? Well good luck," I watched Kimiko who watched over the others.

"Oh, I will come back to Tenpenny Tower. I've never actually been there before, so the journey should be a good one," She retorted.

"Then you can have my room key, I wont be needing it," Kyome handed her the room key and eyed Jericho. "Yo jackass, we're leaving. It's been real Nats, hope we can meet up again sometime," I rose my hand watching the girl exit.

"Well you guys be safe. C'mon Charon lets get going," He nodded his head and began following me out the door with Kimiko only a little bit short behind.

"Tenpenny Tower is full of bigots, why would we need to go there?" He questioned. I grinned up at him.

"Because there's a bunch of ghouls there now. I got most of the bigots killed, the only humans that will be there are a few friends of mine and Maggie and Harden, the children," He smirked and opened the door for us.

"You're strange smoothskin," I giggled and stuck out my tongue.

"Yeah I get told that a lot haha," It was going to be a long walk back to Tenpenny Tower, hopefully the ferals are done clearing the place out.


	6. Chapter 6

Candace

The group had broken down in size recently. Natsumi took her ghoul and Kimiko back with her to Tenpenny, Kyome and Jericho went off to do whatever they needed to do, and now I was with Muka who evidently decided that she wanted to come with me instead to talk to a Pinkerton about that android. I was surprised at first when she announced that she wanted to join up. We had left Underword about 24 hours ago and we had traveled through Raider camps and storms of Super Mutants to get on our way. Honestly, having Muka around was a blessing. She took out most of the raiders giving me time to look around and less bullets on dogmeat.

"Candace," Muka had finally spoken up. "Do you ever become afraid that you wont find your father?"

"That fear has been on my mind since I woke up in the that morning in the Vault. I have faith though, my father isn't stupid," I glanced over her facial features that showed worry. "What's on your mind?" Muka's body shuttered and she folded her arms.

"I'm scared that I wont find him...I'll admit, I feel love thinking about him, I need to find him," Her thoughts were revealed leaving me shocked. "It's stupid, sorry," I shook my head.  
"No, don't be. It's understandable what you're feeling. I'll do as much as I can to help," "Thank you, Ace," Her smile gave me confidence that I would find my father. There was no way that I would back out now.

We finally made it to Rivet City after the grueling walk. The huge boat city was nothing that I thought it would be. We walked up the steel stairs and I spoke into the intercom. Muka was giving water to the homeless man behind us. The drawbridge came around toward us giving us a clear path to the door. Muka began walking and joined me at my side as we made our way to the ship. A rather good looking man with a plasma rifle stopped us aiming.

"Hold it right there, state your business in Rivet City," His eyes traveled to Muka who stared back with just as much confidence.

"I'm here to see Doctor Li, it's urgent," He looked me over and lowered his weapon.

"Doctor Li is a very busy person. Don't bother her too much," "Thank you, can you tell me where I can find her?" He placed his rifle back on his back.

"Her lab is at the south end of the ship. Like I said before, she's a busy person, so make it quick," I bowed my head and glanced at the android beside me who was staring at him.

"Who are you?" She uttered. His eyes went back to hers and he blinked.

"I'm Harkness one of the security heads," "Muka," She replied with her name. He nodded to her and walked back to the door, her eyes not leaving him once.

"Ooh, someone's got a crush," I giggled and elbowed her. A slight hew of red covered her cheeks.

"Let's just go see this Doctor Li, she might know where we can find Pinkerton," I chuckled lightly and followed her through the door that was marked stairwell.

We entered the small room that had stairs leading all the way up. I followed the signs and made my way through the middle doors.

"Hey we're going to stop and see the doctor here first, got some injuries from that last battle," "That's fine," She approved and followed me towards the sign that read doctor.

"You better be injured or near death to be in here," He implied watching over us. I flinched.  
"Yeah I am doc, mind fixing me up?" He sighed and went over to his supplies. Muka sat down and scanned the room.

"Do you have any information about a Dr. Pinkerton?" She chided. His eyes gazed over to hers hardened.

"Why would I tell you something like that kid?"

"I need to ask him about a face implant," He finished the gauze and took my caps.

"He's in the broken bow of the ship," She stood up and began towards the door.

"I'm sorry that I wont be able to help you any longer Ace, but I must talk to the Doctor," I waved my hand to her and followed her out.

"Do whatcha gotta do," She muttered a thanks and took off towards the opposite direction. I went towards the lab and took a deep breathe.

'Please be here dad,' I opened the door and made my way in gazing around at the room. I looked at the Asian woman with dark hair who fit the picture I had gotten from Three Dog.

"Excuse me, are you Doctor Li?" She muttered and turned around.

"Look I don't have time for...my god..it's you, you're James daughter, Candace aren't you?" I blinked taken aback.

"Do I know you," She scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Figures he didn't say a thing about me. I'm Doctor Madison Li, I worked with both your parents a long time ago," I gaped and covered my mouth.

"You..knew my mother? My father was here? Where is he?" She blinked.

"I thought he would have sent you here," I shook my head sadly. "James left awhile ago, saying how he 'wants to continue project purity' I told him he was insane, but that man never listens,"

"So can you tell me where he is now?" "You're just like him. He went to the old lab stationed in the Old Jefferson Memorial. I don't know why though, place is surrounded by Super mutants," I thanked her and turned around, dogmeat growled at the two man in the corner, the elder one arguing with a scientist. I made my way over.

"Are you looking for something? Maybe I can help," The older man stopped his bickering and looked me over.

"My dear girl you are just what I am looking for. I'm looking for some property that went missing," I rolled my eyes.

"Just tell me what I need to do," He chuckled.

"Oh right to it then, I like that. I'm looking for an android that escaped from the commonwealth. A3-21, is my most advanced android and I simply can't have him wandering around. He got a face swap and a mind swipe so that he can hide from me," I glared at him.

"Androids are people too," He scoffed. "Fine, I'll find him,"

"That's better, when you find him, tell him to come back and I'll pay you handsomely," He then shewed me off with his hand. I growled under my breathe and stalked out of the lab. Muka was looking for this android, she needs to know that someone is out to get him. I checked the time on my pipboy which read 6pm and sighed. It's only been a half hour since I last saw her. I made my way to the marketplace, I could at least go shopping while I waited for her.

Muka

"It's fascinating to see another android has come to learn about another. Tell me, are you also from the commonwealth?" Pinkerton asked lounging on a small couch. I shifted in the chair below me.

"No, my creator is a young woman born to the Citadel. She's a lot smarter than any commonwealth engineer," He eyed me over curiously.

"You're definitely a more advanced piece of work. Where is she? Did you run away from her as well?" I stiffened and resisted a glare.

"No, Natsumi-sama respects my freedom and always tells me to do what I want to do. That is why I am here, I must find A3-21 and confront him,"

"You're really serious huh? Alright, he goes by the name Harkness now. He wanted a whole memory swipe so he doesn't remember any thing about being an android, and I wouldn't tell him either,"

"Why not? The whole point of me doing this was to find another android like me," He rubbed his temples and sighed.

"Look if you want to reverse it, just say 'Activate A3-21, Recall Code Violet' and all of his memories will come back. Now get outta here before I shoot you," I nodded my head and made my way for the door. A small good luck left his mouth before I closed the door behind me.

'Harkness...I knew he had to be an android,' The feeling in my stomach made me rush towards the door that I had picked and I dashed out.

Upon arriving to the marketplace I noticed Ace's worried expression.

"Ace, did you find your father?" She shook her head and came closer.

"Look some guy named Zimmer is looking for his android. I thought I'd tell you know before it's too late," I froze in my spot and looked over to Harkness. I wouldn't let this 'Zimmer' character get his hands on him.

"I know who he is now Ace. Go ahead and find your father, I'll take care of anything here,"

"Alright, be careful and good luck. I'll be in the Jefferson Memorial if you..." I shook my head and looked at her with meaningful eyes.

"No, I found him Ace. Please tell Natsumi-sama, that I won't be coming back. I know it will upset her, but she's got Charon now," She frowned and hugged me. We had spent close to a month around each other now, and even though it didn't feel like that, it surely was. The end of the year was approaching and 2278 would be here. I needed to settle down sometime. I approached Harkness with high nervousness.

"Harkness?" He turned to me and smiled lightly.

"What is it Muka? Is there something wrong?" I shook my head and bit my lip.

"No, there's something that I need to tell you...and I'm not sure how you're going to take it," He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm listening,"

"You're an android from the commonwealth. You had your memory swiped so that you could escape them, your name is A3-21," His face turned angry and he glared at me.

"What kind of sick joke is this? How am I to believe that I'm an 'android'?" I explained the details and his face turned to shock.

"That...that can't be...all this time," I reached out and held his hand.

"It's okay, Activate A3-21, Recall Code Violet," He let out a strangled cry and held onto his head.

"I remember...all those people...how did you know?"

"I'm an android too Harkness, M5-9 is my true name. I was created by a young girl named Natsumi Kimura in the Citadel," I cleared my throat and let go of his hand. "There's a man by the name of Zimmer in the lab looking for you, what do you want to do about it?" His nostrils flared angered by the name.

"I want to kill him," "Then I will assist. I have to admit, I've been looking for you my whole life," he stopped and glanced at me noting the pink hew on my cheeks.

"All this time, I thought that I was the only android and I was upset by it. So when I found your holotape, I took it upon myself to make it a mission to find you," His hand squeezed mine affectionately.

"I'm here now, and I'm quite honored to have had you look for me," He took his hand back and glanced at the metal door in front of us. "Well lets take care of our little problem, and we'll discuss further plans between us, Muka," For the first time in 4 years I was happy. Not upset or confused or anything else. I found the love that I was searching for and I wasn't going to leave him anytime soon.

Muka's POV end

Let me know if anyone actually likes this story, if so I'll start off from where I last left off, i'll only be writing to the ending battle if I get that far, but I will mostly be working for more popular stories. Just let me know

S1lly1nL0ve


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